Lehtonen and Secretary, Department of Education and Training

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision by MCI Institute, which had refused the applicant's request to re-credit his VET FEE-HELP balance. The applicant sought re-crediting for a unit of study undertaken in Semester 1 of 2015, lodging his application for review with the Tribunal after MCI Institute affirmed its initial refusal.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant met the criteria for re-crediting his VET FEE-HELP balance under Schedule 1A of the *Higher Education Support Act 2003* (Cth). Specifically, the Tribunal had to consider if "special circumstances" applied to the applicant, as required by clause 46(2)(c), and whether the application was made within the prescribed period or if the provider should have waived that requirement due to the applicant's inability to apply earlier, as stipulated in clause 46(2)(e).

The Tribunal affirmed the reviewable decision, finding that while the applicant had provided evidence of severe atopic dermatitis and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression, there was insufficient evidence to establish that these conditions had a full impact on his ability to complete the unit of study on or after the census date. Furthermore, the applicant's application was lodged after the stipulated application period, and the Tribunal was not satisfied that the circumstances warranted a waiver of this requirement. The Tribunal applied the principles outlined in clause 48 of Schedule 1A and the VET AIP regarding the definition of "impracticable" and the types of circumstances that might be considered, but concluded that the evidence presented did not meet the threshold for granting the re-crediting.